Blockworks has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to formally recognize a new category of market participant: a Qualified Onchain Disclosure Agent. The firm laid out the request in a policy piece arguing that the current disclosure pipeline doesn't fit token-based markets and that a designated agent could do the translation work instead.
The pitch is straightforward. Right now, projects trying to file or disclose onchain activity either hand over raw blockchain data or pay lawyers to reformat it. Blockworks says a recognized agent role would standardize both jobs.
What the agent would actually do
The role, as Blockworks describes it, would sit between crypto issuers and the SEC. A Qualified Onchain Disclosure Agent would take onchain events — token movements, contract changes, treasury activity — and turn them into disclosures the agency and investors can actually read and verify.
That's the compliance angle. Blockworks also argues the arrangement would cut costs, since issuers wouldn't each have to build their own one-off reporting process. And it says transparency improves because the agent's output would be consistent across projects rather than a patchwork of custom filings.
Why the SEC is being asked now
The request lands as the agency keeps working through how existing securities rules apply to onchain activity. Blockworks frames the proposal as a way to use existing disclosure frameworks rather than invent a parallel regime. The agent designation would create a named, accountable party for onchain disclosures — something the current rules don't really have.
The firm hasn't said which issuers or platforms have signed on, or whether it intends to become a Qualified Onchain Disclosure Agent itself. The piece is a policy argument, not a filing with named backers.
The open question
What Blockworks is asking for is essentially a licensing layer for onchain data. The SEC hasn't said whether it's considering the idea. No timeline has been given, and there's no indication yet that the commission has opened a comment period or put the proposal on an agenda.
For now the request sits as a suggestion from a research shop with a public policy arm — one that will need SEC engagement before anything changes for issuers, exchanges, or the investors Blockworks says would benefit.
